The Associate-versus-Professional question is usually answered with a comparison of difficulty, which is both obvious and unhelpful: the Professional exam is harder. There is a more useful answer available right now, and it is a date. AWS has announced that the updated Professional exam, SAP-C03, opens for registration on 27 October 2026, with general availability from 17 November 2026. The Associate exam has no announced successor at all.
This page uses only what AWS publishes on its own pages and blog, and says plainly where it publishes nothing. Verified 18 September 2026.
What AWS has published about each
| Associate — current code | SAA-C03 |
| Associate — successor | Not announced |
| Associate — retirement | Not published. Only the Italian version ends, after 31 December 2026 |
| Associate — format | 65 questions (50 scored) in 130 minutes, 720 on a 100–1,000 scale, 150 USD |
| Associate — recommended experience | At least one year designing cloud solutions that use AWS services |
| Professional — current code | SAP-C02 |
| Professional — successor | SAP-C03 announced: registration 27 October 2026, generally available 17 November 2026 |
The Professional exam is the one in motion
This changes the shape of the decision for anyone whose plan was to skip the Associate and go straight to Professional. If you sit SAP-C02 in the next few weeks, you are sitting a version that is about to be superseded, and preparing from materials written for it. If you wait, you are waiting for an exam whose objectives you cannot study yet.
Meanwhile the Associate exam sits still. No successor announced, no retirement date published, and a stable exam guide you can prepare against today. If you want to be certified rather than to be waiting, that asymmetry answers the question on its own.
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Timed practice tests written from AWS’s published exam guide, with an explanation for every answer — so the questions you get wrong are the ones you learn from.
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- Original questions written from the published exam guide — never real exam content
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The sequencing rule people miss
There is one more published policy that belongs in this decision. Once you pass an AWS exam you cannot retake it for two years, unless AWS issues a new exam guide and series code. So passing the Associate is not a step you can casually repeat — if you were imagining sitting it now and again in a year to keep it fresh, that is not available.
It cuts the other way too. Because renewal can be achieved by passing a higher-level exam in some cases, and because certifications last three years, the Associate is best treated as a deliberate three-year commitment rather than a warm-up you will redo.
Take the Associate first if…
- You are around the one-year hands-on mark. That is the experience level AWS recommends for it, and the exam is written for that reader.
- You want to be certified this quarter. The Associate is stable and available; the Professional exam is mid-transition.
- You need the credential for an application or a partner requirement. Associate is the widely recognised baseline.
Consider waiting for SAP-C03 if…
- You are already an experienced architect for whom the Associate would be a formality rather than a learning exercise.
- Your timeline is past mid-November anyway. Sitting a version weeks before it is superseded is a poor use of a full-price attempt.
- You can prepare on real work rather than exam material during the gap, since objectives for the new version are not yet something you can revise from.
One caveat we would rather state than skip: if you are targeting the Professional exam, be careful about buying practice material written for SAP-C02 right now, whoever is selling it. A question bank aimed at a version being replaced in November is a short-lived purchase.
Where practice questions fit
Practice questions are a diagnostic, not a syllabus. Their job is to find the domain you are weak in and to train you to settle a scenario question without re-reading it four times. Used that way — timed, reviewed, and written from the published exam guide — they are the most efficient preparation available in the last few weeks.
A caution that matters more than it appears to. Sites offering “real exam questions”, brain dumps or leaked SAA-C03 content are selling you a violation of the AWS Certification Agreement, and AWS can revoke certifications over it. They are also usually stale. Original questions written from the published exam guide teach you to reason about trade-offs; memorised answers teach you to recognise a question you will not be asked.
Find your weak domain before the exam does.
The short answer
Take the Associate now if you are anywhere near its recommended experience level, because it is the stable exam and the certification is valid three years from your test date. Weigh the Professional against the calendar rather than against your ego. For every published Associate parameter, see our AWS Solutions Architect – Associate (SAA-C03) exam guide.
Frequently asked questions
Should I take SAA-C03 or go straight to the Professional exam?
For most people, Associate first. But check the calendar: AWS has announced that registration for the updated Professional exam, SAP-C03, opens on 27 October 2026 with general availability from 17 November 2026, while the Associate exam has no announced successor.
When does SAP-C03 come out?
AWS has announced registration opening 27 October 2026 and general availability beginning 17 November 2026.
Is the Associate exam a prerequisite for the Professional exam?
AWS frames its guidance as recommended experience rather than required prerequisites. Check the current Professional exam page for its own recommendation before assuming you must hold the Associate.
Will SAA-C03 be replaced soon?
AWS has announced no successor to SAA-C03 and published no retirement date for it as of 18 September 2026. Only the Italian version has an end date, after 31 December 2026.
If I pass the Associate, can I re-sit it later?
Not for two years, unless AWS issues a new exam guide and series code. That is worth factoring into your sequencing.
Sources. All exam parameters above come from the AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate certification page, the official SAA-C03 exam guide, the AWS Certification policies and the AWS recertification policy, accessed 18 September 2026. Exam parameters change; if you spot a discrepancy, check the AWS page and tell us so we can correct it.
Disclosure and disclaimer. FoxMedium publishes independent study material. Our practice tests are not official AWS content and are not endorsed by, affiliated with, or representative of Amazon Web Services or the official certification examination. All questions are original and written from publicly published exam guides. We do not host or distribute real exam content. Links to our courses earn us revenue if you enrol. AWS, Amazon Web Services and all related trademarks belong to their respective owners.
